Canadian Human Rights Commission

[Oleg Bach]

Human rights consist of justice - until we have a judicary that makes moral judgement instead of political and policy declarations we will never have real human rights in Canada - as for the commission - all they are is a committee of appeasment- When I hear a legalist say "It is immoral but it is legal" - then I know we are screwed.

[PIK]

We all hear about the poor chinese that worked building the railways,but yet nothing about the 1000's of poor irish that suffered while building the rideau canal. why is that, because they were white?? A group of people wanted a plaque put up about it and the city said they were'nt worth the effort to put one up. I wonder if they ever did it?

[Oleg Bach]

We all hear about the poor chinese that worked building the railways,but yet nothing about the 1000's of poor irish that suffered while building the rideau canal. why is that, because they were white?? A group of people wanted a plaque put up about it and the city said they were'nt worth the effort to put one up. I wonder if they ever did it?

There is a burial ground at Parliment and Queen. It is a mass grave with pavement over top of it - underneath lay the remains of over 300 early Irish...who though oppression and poverty lost their health and were easy prey to disease...as for the Irish now - I see the great grand children living in flop house hotels - hooked on oxycoden and prescribed pharma product - the Irish have been slowly genoicided to this day - because they are a non-compliant and independed breed.

[cybercoma]

Well, what you said was obviously unclear enough so as to be read more than one way. Regardless, now that you've clarified exactly what you meant: you're partly right. Canada has a history of racism and slavery, and it is indeed not like the United States; slavery and the racism inherent in it were never present in Canada at anywhere near the scale it attained in the US and, hence, it is not as much a part of our national ethos.

However, the reason slavery and racism ceased to be systemic in Canada is a little more complex than you make out: Yes, plantations weren't a part of the colonies' economies, but added to that was the fact that Canada was simply smaller than the US, and slavery was outright legally abolished long before it was in America: Abolition movements emerged in Canada as early as 1790 and, in 1793, the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada passed the Act Against Slavery, which was to gradually phase out slavery in the colony. Then, of course, the imperial parliament at Westminster passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833 and the practice was made illegal throughout the British Empire, while slavery continued in law, and thus in open practice, in the US for another 32 years.

Your post reminds me of the old joke that Lincoln signed the executive orders, thus freeing all slaves. The irony being that of course slavery didn't end and Africans most certainly were not "free".

The argument that Canada has a sordid and mostly hidden history of slavery comes from Afua Cooper. You should check out her book The Hanging of Angélique. It was a finalist for the Governor General literary awards. Cooper is quite thorough in her research, going through myriad resources to get a sense of how widespread slavery was and what people's impressions were at the time. Granted, Angélique was sentenced to be hung and burned in 1734, the latter sentence being waved, so we're talking quite some time before the abolition movements in Canada and century before abolition in the US. Nonetheless, that doesn't change the fact that the slave trade was alive and well among Colonists and their European contacts. We also enslaved Natives. Moreover, slaves that escaped to Canada may not have been re-enslaved, but they certainly weren't welcomed with open arms, as the nationalist propaganda would have people believe. Anyway, all I'm trying to say is that I think Cooper's argument--nationalist propaganda has hidden our history of slavery to give us a reason to say we're better than the US--is persuasive and given the limited bit of information that I have read on the matter, I tend to agree.

[cybercoma]

We all hear about the poor chinese that worked building the railways,but yet nothing about the 1000's of poor irish that suffered while building the rideau canal. why is that, because they were white?? A group of people wanted a plaque put up about it and the city said they were'nt worth the effort to put one up. I wonder if they ever did it?

We hear about the suffering of the Irish all the time. I don't know what you're talking about. There is a well documented historiography on the matter.

[g_bambino]

Your post reminds me of the old joke...

Only if you choose to read it that way.

[YYCpoliticsguy]

I'm an American learning about Canada. One thing I'm not sure of is the Canadian Human Rights Commission. From what I've read thus far, it looks like an attempt to make sure minorities get a fair treatment in being able to get work. However, one thing raised my eyebrow. People could get sued for using ethnic slurs. Doesn't that conflict with the free speech rights as guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? For example, if a person calls a black person the N word or some other offensive slur, it seems that the person is guilty of bad taste, but has not committed a crime. It's ugly speech, but still free speech.

Isn't the Canadian Human Rights Commission clashing with the Canadian Constitution? Perhaps I haven't gotten all the facts or have interpreted them wrong?

I think the Charter and it terms can be stretched a bit too far to be too protective. I don't condone racism but people tend to scream foul too quickly on issues like multiculturalism for example, because the assumption is that multiculturalism is a benefit to Canada. Well, in many cases it is, but lets not hold the concept up on a pedestal without understanding all sides of the story.

[guyser]

I think the Charter and it terms can be stretched a bit too far to be too protective. I don't condone racism but people tend to scream foul too quickly on issues like multiculturalism for example,

Multiculturalism and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms have nothing to do with one another.

[Argus]

That's why the HRCs decide whether or not to hear a case.

And what sort of training, legal or otherwise, do these people have? And who has ensured that they are without bias? Anyone? Has there even been an attempt to determine whether people who are appointed to such commissions would make good and neutral judges?

[Argus]

Whichever one the proprieter prefers, apparently.

The only people I think might have a problem would be natives, frankly, because the reserves are often away from big cities, and small towns have more limited choices in retail outlets. In addition, there are often a lot of resentments around. Not all neighbours are in love with each other. How many retail outlets in Caledonia would choose not to serve natives if given the chance? Perhaps many.

Mind you, that wouldn't be out of racism so much as the broader disagreement between different communities. I've got nothing in particular against natives, but if I lived in that area I'd probably hate the ones on the nearby reserve.

Edited November 8, 2011 by Argus